Restaurant Revelations
by MissMavrodaphne
Summary: Dinner at a restaurant quickly gets out of hand when Lassiter is accused of cheating on his girlfriend. [Season 4, includes OC]


**_Background information_**

**_OC: Teresa Reynolds – Lassiter's long time girlfriend. She gets on really well with her boyfriend's work partner Jules._**

**_OC: Caylin Stevens – friend of Juliet 'Jules' O'Hara. Works for a travel magazine. Neighbour of Teresa. Lassiter and Caylin aren't too fond of each other._**

* * *

><p><strong>Caylin's point of view<strong>

No, Caylin, no!" Jules raises her finger and grabs my arm. "This is not our business. I don't care what you think you saw yesterday, you stay out of it!"

I realise this is the first time we have a disagreement. We've known each other for about nine years and the only thing we occasionally bicker about is which movie we're going to see. However, the subject at hand is slightly more serious.

"But Teresa deserves better, Jules!" I protest.

"That's something that…oh, there they are." Jules puts on her best fake smile and greets Teresa.

"There are my girls!" Teresa enthusiastically kisses us on the cheek and I try to wipe the lipstick off without anyone noticing.

"Hi," I greet Lassiter with forced politeness and shake the head detective's hand.

"Jules," Lassiter nods to his partner.

"Carlton," she nods back, slightly uncomfortable.

"Did you make our reservation, Caylin?" Teresa asks, adjusting her bright red pencil skirt. She always dresses ready for the catwalk. Red is her favourite colour and she doesn't hesitate to show it. Red blouses, red skirts, red shoes. Despite her considerable length, she insists on wearing high heels every day.

"Yes, I did," I confirm. "We're lucky. There was only one table for four left."

* * *

><p>"Oh, honey, look! There's sushi on the menu!" Teresa smiles at Lassiter. "We had sushi on our first date," she explains to Jules and me.<p>

Lassiter nods with a forced smile and then casually looks at his watch. I noticed and look at Jules, who chooses to ignore me. She's studying the menu as if there will be a pop quiz on it after dinner.

"Caylin, darling, see anything you like?" Teresa asks me.

"Yes," I say and quickly focus on the menu. "I'm having the…salmon. What are you having?"

"Sushi." She elbows Lassiter in the ribs and he winces. "We're recreating our first date, aren't we, honey?"

Lassiter doesn't look up from the menu.

"On our first date it was just the two of us," he remarks calmly. The sarcasm practically drips off his comment. I'm fairly certain he's not exactly enjoying our company. Teresa laughs as if he made a funny joke and I decide to smile politely. Jules takes a huge sip of her champagne and pretends not to have heard her colleague's remark.

"Caylin, I heard about your manuscript from Jules. How is that working out?" Teresa asks.

"Fairly well, thank you. I've been planning on writing a novel for years and now I've finally started writing it," I proudly reply.

"What kind of genre?" Lassiter suddenly asks, looking at me with interest. "Are you going to be the female Dan Brown?" I'm a bit apprehensive, but also pleasantly surprised he makes an effort to keep the conversation going.

"I don't think so," I smile. "I write so called chick lits. Light stories for young women."

"Isn't that great, honey?" Teresa turns towards Lassiter. "Caylin studied journalism, writes articles for a travel magazine and will soon be a published author!"

"That's nice." Lassiter obviously isn't too impressed. "So if I'm not mistaken, you are putting aside a possible career as a serious journalist, to write shallow books that women read by the pool?"

His demeaning statement about my future dream hit me harder than I thought it would.

"Well, I…I really enjoy writing stories and I don't want to become a serious journa…"

"I love chick lits," Teresa quickly interrupts and gives Lassiter a disapproving look. "You must send me a copy as soon as it's published!"

She's such a darling. Lassiter doesn't deserve a kind woman like Teresa. He cheats on her, insults his table companions and has an extremely arrogant attitude. I'm trying my best not to blurt out his little secret. The head detective checks his watch again, like he can't wait to run off. To his little slut, I suppose.

Luckily the waiter appears to take our order, before Lassiter has a chance to further upset my self esteem.

"This is such a nice place," Teresa comments as the waiter has finished. "Isn't that right, honey?"

Lassiter seems to grow a little weary of his pet name, but smiles back sweetly.

"I prefer Steakhouse Atlantis," he informs us. "Anyway, could you order me another champagne when the waiter gets back? I have to make a phone call."

He gets up and walks towards the exit.

"Work, work, work," Teresa sighs. "It's as if he's married to it!"

"He does work very hard," Jules confirms.

There is a silence and I decide to tell Teresa the truth. Being friendly to Lassiter is not an option for me. But more importantly, it's not fair to keep it from her.

"Teresa," I start in a serious tone of voice. Jules suspects what I'm about to do and kicks my leg under the table.

"Damn it, Jules! I'm going to tell her, whether you like it or not. She deserves to know."

I turn back to Teresa, ignoring my friend's glare. "I suspect Carlton has an affair."

"Excuse me?" Teresa blinks in surprise.

"He bought an expensive ring yesterday for another woman and they were really close. I'm sorry, but I think you have the right to know."

I await her reaction with an uneasy feeling in my stomach. It doesn't feel like a relief, now that I've told her. There's a long silence. I don't think she quits understands my message. From the corner of my eyes I see Lassiter has finished his phone call and is walking back to our table. Oh shit. Thinking ahead has never been one of my virtues. A confrontation in the middle of the restaurant is unavoidable. I look at Teresa and see she squints her eyes. Jules squeezes my arm and stares at her partner, who just sat back down.

"How could you do this to me?" Teresa asks, clearly with suppressed anger.

Now it's Lassiter's turn to blink in surprise.

"What are you talking about, honey?"

"Don't call me honey, Carlton! How dare you call me that when you're cheating on me!" She raised her voice and the people at the tables next to us look up.

"What are you talking about?" Lassiter asks, looking completely taken back by this accusation.

"I'm not an idiot, Carlton. Who is she?" Teresa stands up and blinks rapidly to prevent the tears from rolling down her cheeks.

"I really have no idea what you're talking about, honey. Please sit down, everyone is looking at you," he says calmly.

"Let them look!" Teresa exclaims, keeping her eyes fixed on her boyfriend. "I don't mind if they hear. All those nights you had to work late at the office… and I believed you! I'm so stupid!" She shakes her head with sadness and quickly looks at me, before turning her attention back to Lassiter.

"Caylin just told me you had an affair. Now I want to know who she is."

I want to hide under the table, but feel paralyzed. What have I done? It's suspiciously quiet in the whole restaurant and the guests are looking at the spectacle with curiosity.

"Cheating? How on earth could you think I'm having an affair?"

Lassiter seems genuinely confused. Has he forgotten about his trip to the jewellery store already?

Teresa silently shakes her head.

"So you're denying it?"

"There's nothing to deny or confess!"

In a fluent motion, Teresa takes her full glass of champagne and throws the contents right into Lassiter's face. I cover my mouth in shock, while Lassiter wipes off the drink with a napkin.

"Caylin, thank you for telling me. I'm sorry about dinner, we'll catch up another time," she says, suddenly a lot calmer. She takes her bag and wordlessly makes her way to the exit.

I'm at a loss for words and fearfully await Lassiter's reaction. His confusion has turned into repressed anger and he glares at me.

"Can I talk to you for a moment outside?" he asks through clenched teeth.

"Do I have a choice?" I ask in a high pitched voice.

He grabs my wrist and drags me towards the exit. Apparently not.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Let me know what you think! _


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